Advances in DNA Vaccines

Dear Colleagues,

DNA is a rapidly developing vaccine platform for cancer, infectious and non-infectious diseases. Plasmids use as immunogens to encode proteins to be further synthesized in vaccine recipients. DNA is mainly synthetic, ensuring enhanced expression. Their introduction into the host induces antibody and cellular responses. The latter are often more pronounced, and mimic the events occurring in infection, especially viral. There are a few distinct ways in which the vaccine antigen can be processed and presented, which determine the resulting immune response and which can be manipulated. Routenly, the antigen synthesized within the host cell is processed by proteasome, loaded onto, and presented in a complex with MHC I molecules. Processing can be re-routed to the lysosome, or immunogen can be secreted for further presentation in a complex with MHC II. Apart from the expression, the vaccination efficacy depends on DNA delivery. DNA immunogens are generally administered by intramuscular or intradermal injections, usually followed by electroporation, which enhances delivery 1000-fold. Other techniques are also used, such as noninvasive introduction by biojectors, skin applications with plasters and microneedles/chips, sonication, magnetofection, and even tattooing. An intense debate regarding the pros and cons of different routes of delivery is ongoing. A number of studies have compared the effect of delivery methods on the level of immunogen expression, and the magnitude and specificity of the resulting immune response. According to some, the delivery route determines the immunogenic performance, according to others, it can modulate the level of response, but not its specificity or polarity. The progress of research aiming at the optimization of DNA vaccine design, delivery, and immunogenic performance have led to a marked increase in their efficacy in large species and man. New DNA vaccines for use in the treatment of infectious diseases, cancer, allergies and autoimmunity are forthcoming. This Special Issue will deal with all aspects of DNA vaccine development.

Dr. Maria G. Isaguliants
Dr. Karl Ljungberg
Guest Editors

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